GOODYEAR, Ariz.: Pitching phenom Trevor Bauer and a buddy became embroiled in controversy after tweeting a rap song that they engineered.

Bauer said he was taken by surprise when the hip-hop piece was viewed by many as criticism of Miguel Montero, the catcher for the Diamondbacks who made critical remarks about Bauer after working with him last year.

“”When you get a guy like that,’’ Montero said recently, “”he thinks he’s got everything figured out,’’ and “”He never wanted to listen.’’

Bauer said getting even with Montero was the farthest thing from his mind, and the rap was intended to answer twitter followers critical of Bauer.

“”People on twitter would say things like my ERA is terrible, and you need to work on it,’’ Bauer said. “”And I didn’t choose to put it out there.’’

Bauer estimates that he and Connor Garelick, who plays baseball at Pepperdine University, have composed 25-30 raps, strictly for their own amusement. One of Garelick’s duties is to put post the finished product on twitter. That's what he did Wedneday night.

The rap is entitled “”You Don’t Know Me,’’ and its message can be interpreted provocatively. Here are some of the words.

You hide behind a mask to facilitate a task. But you don’t know me (Huh). You won’t know me.’’
Those lines could refer to Montero, but Bauer said, “”I have no hard feelings against the Diamondback. I enjoyed my time there. I have no hard feelings toward Montero.''

Bauer was asked why he retweeted the rap after Garelick initially made it public.
“”I never thought about it,’’ said Bauer, who insisted he retweeted the rap before he knew it had become a point of controversy.